St Johnstone continued to create the better chances in the opening quarter of an hour, as O'Halloran forced a corner, leaving Gordon scrambling to get the ball clear from the resulting set piece, but the visitors survived.

Celtic started to see more of the ball as the half progressed, testing Alan Mannus when Stefan Johansen chipped the ball in towards Ciftci, but the keeper beat the striker to the ball.

Ciftci had another chance just before the half-hour mark as Tomas Rogic played the ball inside for the forward, who found himself in space in the box, but his finish was straight at Mannus.

Ciftci did manage to open the scoring before the break though, as Callum McGregor curled the ball in from a corner, leaving the Turkish international to blast the ball in from close range, leaving Ronny Deila's side with the lead at the interval.